Cover flap and hinge assembly and method of making same for passenger vehicle glove compartments

The invention relates to a hinge for covering flaps in motor vehicles. Especially preferred embodiments of the invention relate to a hinge for a glove-compartment cover with two hinge leaves coupled in an articulated manner. With such a hinge, it is possible for the hinge leaf on the cover side to be fixed such that it is secured in the vertical direction by inserting a tongue into a channel which is preferably assigned to a main cover body, and for the other hinge leaf to be fastened to a fixed bodywork part after alignment has taken place in the longitudinal and transverse directions of the vehicle and, in addition, a device is provided for aligning the glove-compartment cover in the vertical direction.

A hinge designed in this manner, the two hinge leaves of which are connected to one another via a link coupled in an articulated manner, is disclosed in German Patent Document DE 41 42 598 C1. In a first embodiment the link is supported by means of a helical coil compression spring on the hinge leaf assigned to the fixed bodywork part and the glove-compartment cover can be moved towards the fixed bodywork part or away from it by turning a screw in order to align the cover. The threaded part of the screw penetrates the link. In this arrangement, the adjusting process has proven difficult and is time-consuming because the screw head is covered by a covering and is accessible only through an opening in said covering, and, in addition, it is not possible for any adjustment position to be checked until the glove-compartment cover has been closed.

In a second exemplary embodiment, the link is held by a double collar screw, the threaded stem of which, which is not visible, can be turned by means of a tool, after a covering has been removed, for the vertical adjustment of the closed glove-compartment cover. This adjusting process has also proven difficult since the positioning of the tool is not directly visible and the adjustment position, which is reached with difficulty, still has to be secured by means of a lock nut.

An object of the invention is to configure the vertical alignment such that it is simpler and, at the same time, such that the adjustment can be carried out without the use of a tool and with the glove-compartment cover closed.

This object is achieved in the case of preferred embodiments of the present invention which includes a cover flap and hinge assembly for a motor vehicle, comprising a cover flap, a hinge tongue connected to the cover flap, a hinge tongue mounting channel fixable in position on a vehicle body, at least one set of first adjusting teeth on the channel, at least one set of second adjusting teeth on the hinge tongue, said first and second sets of adjusting teeth being configured to elastically interengage and thereby accommodate adjusting of the hinge tongue in said channel by manual movement of the cover flap while in its closed position.

In a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, two spaced-apart rows of teeth which face one another are provided, and two racks with consecutive teeth engage into each row of teeth. As a result, the adjustment made can be retained, even in the case of flaps having a relatively great inherent weight, until the alignment position is secured.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are also contemplated with a single row of teeth or more than two rows of teeth.

In a further development of the invention, the spacing of the teeth in the rows of teeth at one side is many times smaller than that of the teeth on the other side. As a result, it is possible for the teeth to be of stable design despite small adjusting steps.

In especially preferred embodiments, the vertical adjustment position of the glove compartment cover can be secured rapidly and in a simple manner if the securing member is designed as a U-shaped clip, the two limbs of which penetrate slots in the two side walls of the channel, which lie opposite one another.

In other preferred embodiments the clip is T-shaped with the T-leg penetrating a corresponding slot in the channel walls.

For insertion which is easy and ultimately secured, the clip preferably has approach bevels and integrally formed lugs. On reaching the securing position the lugs engage over assigned latching points on the one wide wall of the channel.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partial, sectional view showing a glove-compartment cover held on a vehicle bodywork side by a hinge assembly constructed according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1A is a schematic frontal view of a glove-compartment opening depicting the location of the hinge assembly tongue of FIG. 1, with the cover open and only partly shown for illustrative purposes;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the assembly according to FIG. 1, with the tongue disposed ready for insertion;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view which shows a detail of the assembly of FIG. 2, with the tongue inserted and secured;

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the clip used to secure the vertical adjustment position of the glove compartment cover in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3; and

FIG. 4A is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a clip for use in securing the vertical adjustment position of the glove-compartment cover.

A glove-compartment cover 1 for a motor vehicle, only part of which is shown so as not to obscure the invention, has a main body part 2 which defines a glove compartment opening 2A and is fixed with respect to fixed vehicle body parts. Cover 1 is made of plastic and is fastened to fixed bodywork parts 4 by means of two spaced-apart hinges 3, only one of which is visible in FIG. 1. See FIG. 1A for the location of the hinges 3 and the below described channels 8 and tongues 7 at opposite lateral sides of glove compartment opening 2A.

Each hinge 3 is provided with a first hinge leaf 5 which can be fastened such that it can be adjusted relative to the bodywork part 4 in both the longitudinal and transverse direction of the vehicle. By means of a second hinge leaf 6 which is designed as a tongue 7, the hinge 3 is held such that it can be adjusted vertically, in a manner described in more detail below. Tongue 7 is received by a channel 8 integrally formed on the main body part 2. The main body part 2 is provided on the visible side with a panelling part conforming to cover panelling part 9 of cover 1. In practical preferred embodiments parts 2 and 4 form portions of a dashboard assembly disposed in front of a vehicle passenger space.

The cover 1 is mounted for pivotal movement about a hinge pivot axis A--A between respective open and closed positions of the opening 2A when in an installed in-use position on a vehicle.

As can be seen in particular in FIG. 2, the tongue 7, which is equipped with two bevels 10 at the end for easier insertion into the channel 8, is provided with two integrally formed-on webs 11 which each bear two consecutive teeth 12. Two rows of teeth 13, assigned to the teeth 12, are integrally formed on the wall of the channel 8 in the insertion direction of the tongue 7, the tooth spacing and also the tooth height of which are many times smaller than that of the teeth 12. This has the result that when the tongue 7 is initially inserted into the channel 8, which still takes place with the glove compartment cover 1 open, starting from a specified insertion depth the teeth 12 engage in a spring-loaded manner into the tooth spaces 14 of the respectively assigned row of teeth 13.

The glove-compartment cover 1 is then closed and its vertical alignment carried out by manual manipulation of the glove-compartment cover. During this vertical alignment, the cover 1 is still mounted in a non-secured manner in that the screwed connections 4A are either loose or not in position. Owing to the spring-loaded engagement of the teeth 12, they are elastically displaceable in the vertical direction towards the adjacent teeth 12 on the fixed dashboard part for the purpose of obtaining a uniform joint spacing. Owing to the very small sized spacing of the teeth of each row of teeth 13, this adjusting process can be carried out in small steps to match the given requirements. Since the cover 1 is closed during this vertical adjustment process, a precise alignment of the cover 1 with adjacent dashboard structure can be achieved in a simple and reliable manner by manual movement of the cover, without requiring any tools.

The adjustment position obtained in this manner does not change unintentionally, owing to the spring-loaded engagement of the teeth 12, when the glove-compartment cover 1 is opened for subsequent insertion of a securing member 15. The securing member 15 for securing the alignment position of the glove-compartment cover 1 is designed as a U-shaped clip 16, the two protruding limbs 17 of which not only have approach bevels 18 but also a lug 19. Clip 16 is pushed with its two limbs 17 into opposite slots 20 in the two wide walls 21 and 22 of the channel 83. The two webs 11 and hence also the teeth 12 are consequently pushed more strongly in the direction of the rows of teeth 13 to securely lock the teeth 13 and 12 in the adjusted position. When the final insertion position of the clip 16 is reached, the lugs 19 engage over assigned latching points 23 of the wall 21, thus securing the clip 16 against unintentional release. The screw connections 4A can then be tightened to further secure the adjusted position of the cover and hinge assembly.

FIG. 4A illustrates an alternative embodiment of a locking member 15' in the form of a T-shaped clip 16' which includes a single limb 17' having approach bevels 18' and a lug 19' corresponding to each of the limbs 17 of the FIG. 4 embodiment. A corresponding single slot, corresponding to the slots 20 of the embodiments of FIG. 1-4, is provided on the channel walls. Other locking members with more than two limbs are also contemplated according to other preferred embodiments of the invention.

Alternative embodiments are also contemplated for the tongue and adjusting teeth configuration corresponding to the tongue 7 and rows of teeth 13. Such alternative embodiments include a single web corresponding to the two webs 11 and a corresponding single row of teeth 13. Embodiments are also contemplated with more than two webs, like web 11 of FIG. 2, and corresponding rows of teeth, like rows of teeth 13.

In the illustrated preferred embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, the hinges 3 include two separate hinge leaves mounted on a common pivot axis A--A which carries the cover 1. Alternative embodiments with a unitary plastic hinge member having appropriate dimensioning for forming the hinge pivot connection for the cover are also contemplated. Such unitary hinge members would in some instances be more economical to produce and still provide adequate performance. Further embodiments are also contemplated with a unitary plastic member forming both hinges 3 and their hinge leaves.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it is to be clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example, and is not to be taken by way of limitation. The spirit and scope of the present invention are to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims.